Post: Parents Can Use Cell Phones to Track Kids — Without Calling Them
Parents Can Use Cell Phones to Track Kids — Without Calling Them
Verizon Wireless has Chaperone. Sprint and Disney also insterted a Global Positioning System (GPS) into their latest family cell phone plan. So how does it work?
When your child has their cell phone on, parents can track their location by using their own phone, or the Internet. Parents can also set up the system to notify them, when their kids venture out of a certain region.
Want to know when your kid leaves school and arrives home? Receive a text message letting you know your child has safetly stayed within the virtual boundaries you both established. But does all this tracking make parents feel safer about allowing their kids to go out with their friends or walk home from school? Or is it simply a tactful, albeit ingenious way, of increasing the sales of cell phones?
Parents are giving in and allowing younger and younger kids to get their own cell phone, often siting this is for security purposes. But does a GPS tracker mean our kids are mature enough to handle a cell phone responsibly?
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There are 5 replies to this post
Date: June 18, 2006
I think this is really a false sense of security. The advantage of giving a child a cell phone is that he or she can call 911 if they need to, or call you at work when their other parent hasn't shown up.
Let's be serious: this is being marketed to 5-9 year olds, but the real target is junior high kids, who typically get no after-school programming at school, or high school kids, whose parents are helicoptering.
It helps children to learn how to make good decisions and what to do in an emergency and when they've made a mistake. Tracking chips will lull us all into forgetting to do just that.
Date: June 19, 2006
Is anyone else reminded of that SVU episode where the sex offender with an ankle bracelet dupes his parole officers by affixing it to the cat? No? Anyway, these new systems sound freakily similar to how they track these parolees. Since when do we want our kids to live in a virtual prison? No one should live like that. Educate and communicate; treat your kids like human beings.
Date: June 19, 2006
I think this is a fine idea. Children are so forgetful and can be very inconsiderate, especially when it comes to calling when they'll be late, etc. And there's the ever-present fear of "are they really at their friend Susan's for a sleepover?" If anything, this new technology will increase the freedom I'd give my kids.
Date: June 19, 2006
That's ridiculous. You think your kids will get more freedom "out of your sight" or something? Because they're not. They will always know that you're watching them - until they realize that once they switch off the cell phone, your power magically disappears as well.
Date: June 20, 2006
I think I would use this. It seems helpful.